In 2014, AnnaLynne McCord went public with a painful piece of her past in an essay for Cosmopolitan, revealing she'd been raped.
Then 26, she wrote about a childhood filled with "abuse" had left her primed for subsequent relationships with men that proved to be "dark and violently dramatic." Then, when she was 18, a male friend asked if he could crash at her place. They talked for while until eventually falling asleep, but when she woke up, she realized he was sexually assaulting her. She recalled feeling "so disoriented and numb" and, in the moment, wondered if she'd acted in a way "to give him the wrong idea." She asked him to stop, and he did. McCord "stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night, frozen."
For years, she told no one what had taken place, until eventually the burden grew too great. She opened up to family and friends, and sought professional help. It was only then, she continued, that she launched herself on a path of "channeling my experience into something good." She concluded by sharing "my message for women and girls: You have a voice. Don't put yourself in a box. Don't let the polite lies of society silence you. Honestly, I would endure everything all over again — it has led me to my own revolution."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZma3Bia4V1e9OhnGatnqm8rbCMramurJhivKd5wKelmqSpo7umecycmqiqlGQ%3D